webdesign
Social Media Marketing and the value of content
It’s is almost 1pm and I stand here reading a pretty inspiring article form one of the best design and marketing bloggers out there ( in my opinion for what it´s worth). That got me thinking about the whole social media marketing buzz going on lately.
It´s true that social media is an innovation and a good starting ( and free of course) platform to sell ourselves and our businesses, but are we really wanting to take advantage of those technologies in order to offer our clients and fellow readers/followers/subscribers means to enrich their lives? or are we just using these media as mere advertising and selling points because they are cheap fast ways to reach a lot of possible customers?.
For me it´s easy to see the impact of social media in my everyday life, I use Twitter, Facebook, linked-In and other social networks almost daily, and I kinda liked it… but now it has become a little irritating. Almost every network is plagued with lots of SPAM, be it false accounts, lifeless corporate profiles, plain-junk e-mail and private message campaigns about the latest big thing on the market. So I started to feel tired, and even angry at the constant stream of mails coming specially from Facebook and the endless daily Fortune cookie updates on most of my friends profiles, not to mention the constant add-me requests from companies and individuals who I don´t or barely know anything.
Having an online presence is as important nowadays than having a good business card, but most of these spaces lack not only on originality, but mostly in a deep engaging language so we as costumers really feel that they actually care about us and not only the cash on out pockets. They´re all saying how good they are and how many things they can do for you and your life but in the end the vast majority falls into the same overused corporate speech that we all know very well.
Social media should be about sharing our experiences and knowledge, not just selling cheap propaganda or a false “i am your best friend” image. We as individuals and companies alike should be taking the creation and sharing of valuable and relevant content, this way we can really establish a connection with our customers, peers or other businesses and it´s up to us customers to push the companies fordward to add better content and ultimately make a better web.